When classes started last fall, UNLV assistant coach Mia Bell was on the prowl, looking for players to join the women’s basketball team.
Bell put up flyers around dorms, watched games at the rec center, approached people on campus and did whatever else she could to find players.
But Bell wasn’t looking for women — she was looking for men.
Division I women’s teams utilize male students on campus for their “scout team,” a group that provides competition in practice.
Many of the men — depending on their academic year and the number of practices they attend — must go through the NCAA Eligibility Center as they officially become student-athletes themselves.